PhidgetLED-64 Advanced

The PhidgetLED 64 allows you to independently control 64 Light Emitting Diodes. Each LED can be turned on and off, and its brightness controlled.

Most standard LEDs with colors such as red, amber, orange, yellow, and green have forward voltages below 2.75 Volts, and can be used with the PhidgetLED by simply soldering them to a connector-wire and inserting the wire into any PhidgetLED board connector. The forward voltage will default to 2.75V, and the maximum current defaults to 20mA.

The 1031 is capable of adjusting the forward voltage supplied to the LEDs with 1.7, 2.75, 3.9 and 5 volts settings allowing you to properly drive blue, white, violet, ultra violet and purple LEDs.

Bi-color LEDs, tri-color LEDs, seven-segment displays, bar LEDs, and other array-style arrangements of LEDs can also be used with the 1031.

The maximum current can be set to 20, 40, 60 or 80mA, and applies to all LEDs. The API allows the brightness control of individual LEDs.

Connect the power supply to the barrel jack. If your power supply does not have a jack, you can connect the wires to the power terminal beside it, making sure the polarity is correct.

Connect LEDs to the PhidgetLED's outputs. You can slide the pins of an LED into the connector (short end to a black wire, and the long end to the red wire beside it), or you can cut the LED cable in half and solder the LED on.

Connect the PhidgetLED to your computer using the USB cable.

Now that you have everything together, let's start using the 1031!

Using the 1031

Phidget Control Panel

In order to demonstrate the functionality of the 1031, the Phidget Control Panel running on a Windows machine will be used.

The Phidget Control Panel is available for use on both macOS and Windows machines. If you would like to follow along, first take a look at the getting started guide for your operating system:

First Look

After plugging the 1031 into your computer and opening the Phidget Control Panel, you will see something like this:

The Phidget Control Panel will list all connected Phidgets and associated objects, as well as the following information:

Serial number: allows you to differentiate between similar Phidgets.

Channel: allows you to differentiate between similar objects on a Phidget.

Version number: corresponds to the firmware version your Phidget is running. If your Phidget is listed in red, your firmware is out of date. Update the firmware by double-clicking the entry.

The Phidget Control Panel can also be used to test your device. Double-clicking on an object will open an example.

Digital Output (LED)

Double-click on a Digital Output object, labelled LED Driver, in order to run the example:

General information about the selected object will be displayed at the top of the window. You can also experiment with the following functionality:

From the Forward Voltage drop-down menu, select the appropriate voltage for your LED. It is recommended to set the forward voltage to the first setting above the maximum voltage specified by your LED's datasheet.

Use the Current Limit slider to set an appropriate limit for your LED. The current limit will be specified in your LED's datasheet.

Use the large button to toggle power to the LED.

Use the Duty Cycle slider to precisely control the amount of power supplied to the LED.

Technical Details

General

The 1031 uses four controller chips that allow you to vary the current and voltage supplied to each channel. It does not use pulse-width modulation, another common control method for LEDs.

Multiple LEDs on a Single Channel

You can have multiple LEDs hooked up to a single channel on the 1031, (for example, a short string of LEDs) to reduce the amount of wiring, although keep in mind that you'll lose control of the individual lights, and can only toggle or dim the entire string. When using multiple LEDs on a single channel, you'll need to increase the voltage limit for that channel. If the LEDs are too dim at the maximum voltage, you should spread them out to other channels.

High-Current Considerations

If you're using high-current LEDs, you should spread your load evenly across the board to avoid having one of the controller chips overheat. There are four controller chips, each controlling the channels on a quarter of the board.

Controller

Channels

1

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

2

8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23

3

32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63

4

40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55

Board Connector Diagram

The connector used on the 1031 LED board is a Molex 70543-0003. The mating connector used on our LED cables is the Molex 50-57-9404.

Further Reading

What to do Next

General Phidget Programming - Read this general guide to the various aspects of programming with Phidgets. Learn how to log data into a spreadsheet, use Phidgets over the network, and much more.

Phidget22 API - The API is a universal library of all functions and definitions for programming with Phidgets. Just select your language and device and it'll give you a complete list of all properties, methods, events, and enumerations that are at your disposal.

Software Objects

Channel Name

API

Channel

LED Driver

DigitalOutput

0 - 63

API

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Phidgets Inc.

We believe in getting problems solved quickly and projects finished on time. That's why we specialize in making affordable, easy to use sensors and controllers that require minimal electronics knowledge.

Phidgets Inc.

We believe in getting problems solved quickly and projects finished on time. That's why we specialize in making affordable, easy to use sensors and controllers that require minimal electronics knowledge.